Contents

Biography

Early life

.John Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Landy Belushi (née Samaras), a first generation Albanian-American, and Adam Belushi (b.^He was born James Adam Belushi on June 15, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois.

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.1919), an Albanian immigrant and restaurant operator who left his native village, Qytezë, in 1934 at the age of sixteen.^Belushi was born in the United States to Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native village, Qytezë, in 1954 at the age of 15, and to Agnes.

^Using some of his money, be bought his father a ranch outside San Diego, help set up some of his Chicago friends with their own businesses and even helped his younger brother James Belushi , who followed his path to both "Second City" and "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

.He attended Wheaton Central High School, where he met his future wife, Judy Jacklin, and was a middle linebacker for the school's football team.^He met his future wife, Judy, while a sophomore in high school, and stayed together with her until his death.

^Though a young hellion in grade school, John became the perfect all-American boy during his high school years where he was co-captain of the Wheaton Central High School football team and was elected homecoming king his senior year.

.He attended the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater and the College of DuPage near Chicago.^In the fall of his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, John changed his image into a bad-boy appearance by growing his hair long and began to have problems with discipline and structure of attending classes.

^While attending DuPage, John helped found the West Compass Players, an improv comedy troupe patterned after Chicago's famous Second City ensemble.

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[citation needed]

Career

.Belushi's first big break as a comedian occurred in 1971, when he joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago.^Belushi's first big break as a comedian occurred in 1971, when he joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois.

From 1973 to 1975, National .Lampoon Inc. aired The National Lampoon Radio Hour, a half-hour comedy program syndicated across the country on approximately 600 stations.^From 1973 to 1975 the National Lampoon aired The Radio Hour , a half-hour comedy program syndicated across the country on approximately 600 stations.

.When original director Michael O'Donoghue quit in 1974, Belushi took over the reins until the show was canceled.^When original director Michael O'Donoghue quit in 1974, Belushi took over the reins until the show was canceled.

.A number of comic segments first performed on The Radio Hour would be translated into SNL sketches in the show's early seasons.^A number of comic segments first performed on The Radio Hour would be translated into SNL sketches in the show's early seasons.

^On his thirtieth birthday in 1979, Belushi had the number one album (The Blues Brothers: Briefcase Full of Blues ), the number one movie ( Animal House ) and was the star of the highest-rated late night television show ( SNL ).

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.In the toga party scene in the basement of the fraternity house in Animal House, the uncredited coed dancing with Bluto (Belushi) is his wife.^In the Toga party scene in Animal House , the uncredited co-ed dancing with John is his wife.

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^In the toga party scene in the basement of the frat in Animal House , the uncredited coed dancing with Bluto (Belushi) is his wife.

^Animal House was partially derived from a series of short stories published in the National Lampoon from 1974 on, written by Chris Miller about his time in an Animal House-esque fraternity at Dartmouth in the early 1960 s, at which he was known as Pinto .

.January 2010" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] While filming Animal House, Belushi made an appearance at Ithaca College in 1976. When introduced, he came onstage with a chainsaw and cut up the podium.^And when he woke up on the morning of his thirtieth birthday, January 24, 1979, a mere six months after Animal House premiered, John Belushi had the number-one late-night television show in the country, the number-one selling album on the Billboard charts, and the number-one highestgrossing film comedy of all time.

.When interviewed for retrospectives on John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd told stories of John often finishing SNL rehearsals, shows or film shoots and, exhausted, simply walking unannounced into nearby homes of friends or strangers, scrounging around for food and often falling asleep, unable to be located for the following day's work.^And to this day, Dan Aykroyd bristles at the mention of it.

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.January 2010" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] This was the impetus for the SNL horror-spoof sketch "The Thing That Wouldn't Leave", in which Belushi torments a couple (played by Jane Curtin and Bill Murray) in their home looking for snacks, newspapers and magazines to read, and taking control of their television.^In a sketch called “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which aired in 1978, John Belushi plays an elderly version of himself, visiting the graves of his fellow cast members.

.SNL also featured a short film by writer Tom Schiller called "Don't Look Back In Anger", where Belushi playing himself as an old man, visits the graves of his now-former cast-members, the last to survive.^In a sketch called “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” which aired in 1978, John Belushi plays an elderly version of himself, visiting the graves of his fellow cast members.

.Belushi would make four more movies; three of them, 1941, Neighbors, and most notably The Blues Brothers were made with fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd.^Among the highlights is a concert segment featuring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as the Blues Brothers.

Other movie projects

Dan Aykroyd wrote the roles of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters and Emmett Fitz-Hume in Spies Like Us with Belushi in mind, and the roles were actually played by Belushi's former SNL castmates Bill Murray and Chevy Chase, respectively. .Aykroyd used to joke that the green ghost Slimer in Ghostbusters was "the ghost of John Belushi", given that he had a similar party animal personality.^His friend Dan Aykroyd used to refer to the green ghost Slimer from Ghost Busters (1984) as "the ghost of John Belushi", based on the similar party animal personality.

^In the Toga party scene in Animal House , the uncredited co-ed dancing with John is his wife.

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[citation needed]

.Released in September 1981, the romantic comedy Continental Divide starred Belushi as Chicago home town hero writer Ernie Souchack who gets put on assignment researching a scientist studying birds of prey in the remote rocky mountains.^When Continental Divide was released on September 18, 1981, the reviews were generally upbeat.

^(A few months ago, I tried watching the 1981 movie, Continental Divide , in which Belushi played a Chicago newspaper columnist supposedly based on the great Mike Royko, but could stand no more than about ten minutes.

.Belushi's character "Ernie Souchak" was loosely based on popular, now deceased Chicago columnist Mike Royko.^(A few months ago, I tried watching the 1981 movie, Continental Divide , in which Belushi played a Chicago newspaper columnist supposedly based on the great Mike Royko, but could stand no more than about ten minutes.

.At the time of his death, Belushi was pursuing several movie projects, including Noble Rot, an adaptation of a script by former The Mary Tyler Moore Show writer/producer Jay Sandrich entitled Sweet Deception; noble rot is a benevolent fungus that can infect wine grapes on the vine, helping to produce high quality sweet wines.^At the time of his death, John was re writing a script called Noble Rot.

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^At the time of his death, Belushi was rewriting a script entitled "Noble Rot."

.According to writer/actor Tim Kazurinsky in the book Live From New York, mentor and close friend Belushi was instrumental in getting fellow Second City alumnus Kazurinsky onto Saturday Night Live in 1981.[citation needed] But during his run on the show, Kazurinsky became very stressed out by its demands.^Was good friends with fellow "Saturday Night Live" (1975) player Dan Aykroyd .

^Using some of his money, be bought his father a ranch outside San Diego, help set up some of his Chicago friends with their own businesses and even helped his younger brother James Belushi , who followed his path to both "Second City" and "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

.He later called Belushi and said that he needed a ride to the airport because he was quitting and moving back to Chicago.^He later called Belushi and said that he needed a ride to the airport because he was quitting the show and moving back to Chicago.

.Belushi and his wife picked him up but refused to bring him to the airport, at which Belushi told Kazurinsky that the show's atmosphere can get bad, but that he still had access to major broadcasting airwaves.^Finally he agreed, and to get out of the bit, he picked up a glass of water, threw it at Boggs, hit him in the chest and knocked over a table full of plants.

.Instead, Belushi took the performer to a psychiatrist whom he saw for a year, while staying with the show during his run.^But during the last few years of his life Belushi was so unpredictable and his drug use so out of control that he was often guarded by an "enforcer" during peak work periods.

.It was Belushi who recruited the band Fear and brought them to Cherokee Studios to record songs for the soundtrack of Neighbors, a film he and Aykroyd were starring in.^He discovered the band Fear and brought them to Cherokee Studios to record songs for the soundtrack of a major motion picture he and Aykroyd were starring in called, "Neighbors."

^John's brother James Belushi toured with the band for a short time, and even recorded the album Blues Brothers & Friends: LIVE! From Chicago's H.O.B with Dan Aykroyd but he did not appear in Blues Brothers 2000 (1998).

.Music producing partners Steve Cropper and Bruce Robb remember recording the music, but nobody knows exactly what happened with the final soundtrack, which was ultimately replaced in the film by a traditional movie score.^Bernie Brillstein, producer of Blues Brothers, described Belushi's behavior during slack time while this movie was being filmed.

.January 2010" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] Cherokee Studios was a regular haunt for the original Blues Brothers back in the early days of the band.^Days of our Lives - Friday, January 8, 2010 .

.John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd became fixtures at the recording studio, while fellow Blues Brother and guitar player Steve Cropper called Cherokee his producing home.^John Belushi was member of the Blues Brothe...

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^John Belushi is best known for his performance in the Blues Brothers.

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.Whenever they needed a bass player, they were joined by another Blues Brother, Donald "Duck" Dunn.^Jim would later reunite with Aykroyd to record yet another album, not as the Blues Brothers but as themselves: 'BELUSHI/AYKROYD -"Have Love Will Travel (Big Men-Big Music)"'.

.During this time, Cropper along with producing partner and Cherokee owner Bruce Robb worked on a number of music projects with the two comedian/musicians, the band Fear and later Aykroyd's movie "Dragnet."^March 5, 1982) was a comedian, actor, and musician notable for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoons Animal House, and The Blues Brothers''.

.I think what happened to John had a sobering effect on a lot of people, me included," said music producer Bruce Robb.^The bottom line is, it did turn a whole lot of people on to the music, and Belushi and Aykroyd always gave credit where credit was due.

.January 2010" style="white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed] He bought his father a ranch near San Diego, and helped set up his old friends in Chicago with their own businesses.^John bought his father a Ranch house, and helped set up several of his Chicago friends with their own businesses.

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^Growing up in the white-bread, far-west suburbs of Chicago, the middle son of an Albanian immigrant, Jim Belushi had trouble finding his place in the world.

.He helped his brother Jim find a spot at Second City, where he himself acted in the early days of his career.^In 1978, while "Saturday Night Live" was sending John Belushi's career into hyperspace, his little brother was making a name for himself back in Chicago, not only for his work with Second City but for his performance in a new David Mamet play called Sexual Perversity in Chicago .

^As a student there in the early 2000s, Second City was life changing for me.

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.His generous side also showed during his time in the Blues Brothers; he often played songs by blues artists he thought could use the money from the royalties.^It was the night they showcased themselves for the first time as the Blues Brothers.

Death

.On March 5, 1982, Belushi was found dead in his room at Bungalow number 3 of the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.^Two years after filming The Blues Brothers, he died in a room in the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, having injected a 'speedball' of cocaine and heroin.

^It was 25 years ago, March 5th, 1982, and I was riding through the tulip fields outside of La Conner, Washington with Tom Robbins when the news came over the radio that John Belushi had died of a drug overdose at the Chateau Marmont.

.On the night of his death, he was visited separately by friends Robin Williams (at the height of his own drug exploits)[10] and Robert De Niro,[11] each of whom left the premises, leaving Belushi in the company of assorted others, including Cathy Smith.^ROBIN WILLIAMS, actor : It was a wild night.

His death was investigated by forensic pathologist Dr. Ryan Norris among others, and while the findings were disputed, it was officially ruled a drug-related accident.

.Two months later, Smith admitted in an interview with the National Enquirer that she had been with Belushi the night of his death and had given him the fatal speedball shot.^On the night before Belushi’s death, Robert De Niro and Robin Williams visited him at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood, where Belushi was staying in Bungalow 3.

After the appearance of the article "I Killed Belushi" in the Enquirer edition of June 29, 1982, the case was reopened. .Smith was extradited from Toronto, arrested and charged with first-degree murder.^In March 1983, she was indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury and charged with second degree murder.

^Discrepancies between the time she gave Belushi his last injections and the medical examiner's time of death estimate led to her charge and conviction of involuntary manslaughter.

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In one of Belushi's last TV appearances, he filmed a cameo for the comedy series Police Squad!. .At the suggestion of the show's producer, Robert K. Weiss, Belushi was filmed, face down in a swimming pool, dead.^Bernie Brillstein, producer of Blues Brothers, described Belushi's behavior during slack time while this movie was being filmed.

.The footage was part of a running gag where the episode's guest-star would not survive past the opening credit sequence without meeting some gruesome end.^Made a "Guest Star Appearance" on an episode of the 1982 TV series "Police Squad!"

^Co-starring with Belushi on SNL included Dan Aykroyd , who would become Belushi’s closest friend and business associate; and Chevy Chase , with whom Belushi had a strained relationship, as Chase fast became the most popular actor on the program.

Aykroyd presented the award alone, commenting on the stage "My partner would have loved to have been here to present this award, given that he was something of a visual effect himself."[citation needed]

.His tombstone reads "He Gave Us Laughter.^The epitaph on John's tombstone reads "He made us laugh, and now he makes us think".

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[13]" His gravestone is not above his body. It was moved after operators of the cemetery had found many signs of vandalism and rowdiness where his body lies. .He also has a cenotaph at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois.^There is also a memorial at the Belushi family plot at Elmwood Cemetery, River Grove, Illinois.

.Many friends and relatives of Belushi, including his wife Judy, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi, agreed to be interviewed at length for the book, but later felt the final product was exploitative and not representative of the John Belushi they knew.^Dan Aykroyd did the same for John Belushi.

.The book was later adapted into a feature film in which Belushi was played by Michael Chiklis.^While co-hosting an episode of "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" (1986) with Richard Roeper , longtime friend and collaborator Harold Ramis revealed that it was Belushi's longtime ambition to play Ludwig van Beethoven in a feature film.

.Belushi's friends and family boycotted the film, which proved to be critical and caused the movie to be a box-office flop.^While co-hosting an episode of "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies" (1986) with Richard Roeper , longtime friend and collaborator Harold Ramis revealed that it was Belushi's longtime ambition to play Ludwig van Beethoven in a feature film.

The Grateful Dead performed the song "West L.A. Fadeaway" beginning in late 1982. The song, penned by long time lyricist Robert Hunter and sung by Jerry Garcia, contains fairly explicit references to Belushi's death, especially the line "Looking for a chateau, 21 rooms but one will do."[2]

His widow later remarried and is now Judith Belushi Pisano. Her biography (with co-biographer Tanner Colby) of John, Belushi: A Biography is a collection of first-person interviews and photographs, and was published in 2005.

.On April 1, 2004, 22 years after his death, Belushi was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, after a ten-year lobby by James Belushi and Judith Belushi Pisano.^JUDITH BELUSHI PISANO: The premiere was not a typical Hollywood promotional affair.

^Portrayed John D. Cort from 1989-1990 (see list of Actors on ''Baywatch'' ) John Nesbitt Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio (see list of Radio Personalities with Stars in the Hollywood Walk of Fame ) Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television (see list of Movie Personalities with Stars in the Hollywood Walk of Fame ) John Payne (born 1912, died 1989) American actor.

.Among those present at the ceremony were Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Tom Arnold.^The part of D-Day was written for Dan Aykroyd but he didn't do it, probably because of his commitment to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. The studio wanted Chevy Chase to be Otter, but Landis thought that Chase was too recognizable a face to pull the character off.

^Co-starring with Belushi on SNL included Dan Aykroyd , who would become Belushi’s closest friend and business associate; and Chevy Chase , with whom Belushi had a strained relationship, as Chase fast became the most popular actor on the program.

.In 2006, Biography Channel aired the "John Belushi" episode of Final 24, a documentary following Belushi in the last 24 hours leading to his death.^Whenever people lament the death of John Belushi I feel the need to remind them that Chevy Chase was funny once.

Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were immigrants from Albania. His brother is James Belushi, who is also an actor.

John was co-captain of the football team in high school as well as homecoming king in his senior year. In school he was already active in acting, but wanted to become a baseball-coach. His drama-teacher pursued him to become a professional actor.